Editor’s note: This commentary is by Steve Geller, who is the executive director of Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA), one of five community action agencies in the state, and the president of their statewide association, the Vermont Community Action Partnership.
Clarification from Steve Geller: I’m writing to make it clear that I did not submit this commentary on behalf of SEVCA or the Vermont Community Action Partnership (VCAP), and that the opinions contained therein represent only my own views and not necessarily those of any other staff, board members, SEVCA or its board as a whole, or VCAP as a whole, its members, or any of the Vermont Community Action Agencies it represents.
Shocked. Dismayed. Saddened. Ashamed. Horrified. Disgusted. Outraged.
Those are just a few of the extreme words flooding through my mind to try in vain to describe my feelings about the brutal violation of our nation, our democracy, our culture, our character, and our pride as Americans that was inflicted on us on Jan. 6 … a day that will undoubtedly be recorded as one of the saddest and most shameful in our long and illustrious history.
And while some of you may feel that it’s not my place as executive director of Southeastern Vermont Community Action to say it out loud to all of you, it must be said that this violence – both physical (including actual bloodshed and deaths) and spiritual – and the national tragedy and disgrace it has caused, is on the hands of Donald Trump.
Who else but the imposter who masqueraded as a president for the last four (which feels like 40) years, and who embraced Nazis and white supremacists as fine people, dog-whistled the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by,” swore that the only way he could lose the election was if it was rigged, still can’t concede the reality that he lost by a landslide, intimidated and threatened state election officials to “find” enough votes to overturn the election, incited his lunatic fringe supporters to come to D.C. to stop the vote certification on a “historic day” that he promised would be “wild,” and declared his support and love for them after they stormed the Capitol and perpetrated their seditious acts on that symbol of freedom, our democratic tradition, and all decent-thinking people?
Sure, Giulani, Pompeo, Flynn, Hannity, and all the other collaborators who’ve played to his superego and egged him on; the toadies in his administration who lacked the moral fiber to stand up to him and declare that the emperor was in his underwear; and his 150+ reckless and reprehensible abettors in Congress who concocted the charade of objecting to the election result certification that threw gasoline on the fire Trump started and spread; they all deserve their well-earned share of blame for this attempted coup. But none of them could have caused or enabled this brazen act of terrorism if Trump hadn’t set it in motion and incited or bullied his minions to carry it out.
What they carried out is a pathetic insurrection built on a shaky foundation of unfounded fears, baseless conspiracy theories, and outright lies; a bad déjà vu of Hitler’s infamous 1923 Munich Beer Hall “putsch” (i.e., coup) that seemed to fail just as miserably to serve any meaningful purpose as this infamous event has. Many people predicted that Trump’s increasing monomania and break with reality resulting from it would inevitably lead to a situation like we witnessed on this day.
But many more refused to believe that, as the cliché goes, “it could ever happen here;” and yet that’s exactly what happened. And we need to acknowledge that although the putsch failed to achieve its violent and treasonous goal in 1923, its leader never forgot his humiliation over that failure and kept pursuing his odious vision for another decade until he was able to seize power and carry out his hateful, nightmarish, and deadly mission, resulting in unprecedented evil in Germany and much of Europe, and a tragic and massively deadly world war.
Even after Wednesday’s sedition, Donald Trump showed no remorse, or even recognition of the horror his words and actions wrought. And we can be confident that he never will, based on his words and actions over the course of his presidency, and of his entire life. That responsibility rests with all of us; in fact, it’s our obligation to recognize and understand it so we can do what needs to be done to make sure that nothing like it ever happens again.
That requires that we all commit ourselves to respect, honor, and defend the election process that is the bedrock of our democracy, in all its glory, beauty, complexity, and messiness, and never, ever allow any individual, political party, corporation, government agency, or institution to take it away from us and use it for their own personal power and enrichment. That means we must never take it for granted – vote in every election; get others to vote; support expanding everyone’s right and ability to vote and oppose voter suppression of every kind; never accept, and openly challenge, baseless lies and conspiracy theories about the integrity of the electoral system; and speak up loudly and fight like hell against any attempt by anyone to overturn a clearly valid election result because they’re unwilling to accept the outcome.
And it requires us to reject the cynical notion that politics is inherently dirty and all politicians are inherently corrupt and only in it for their own personal gain. That’s a classic self-fulfilling prophecy; i.e., if all the good, caring, creative, competent, responsible people who would be exemplary public servants if elected refuse to run because they believe all politics and politicians are dirty, or can’t get elected because they aren’t able to get enough votes or support from good people who believe that, it leaves the field to only the dirty politicians, and perpetuates the vicious cycle. The turnout and results of the 2020 elections, and especially the Georgia runoff elections, should dispel our cynicism about the significance and benefit of elections and prove just how much every vote counts!
To escape that potentially endless loop, we all need to become engaged in the political process, in whatever way, large and small, we feel able to and comfortable with – speak truth to power about the issues that affect your life and those of your families and neighbors; become engaged in the civic life of your communities; advocate for or against good or bad legislation and public policy; work for candidates that reflect your views and values and are serious about and capable of governing; and become a candidate, get elected, and become one of the exemplary public servants yourself. We need more of those at every level, and will always need more to replenish the supply.
The more good politicians there are, the more good alternatives voters have to future Donald Trumps, and the more engaged and informed voters there are that can vote for those good alternatives, the more likely it is for them to be elected instead. In the long run, that’s the best strategy to make sure nothing like the Jan. 6 putsch ever happens again.
